Not as they seem
by Chaos Guru
Summary: Its the moment all you readers have been on your seat for...Bubbles meets the Orin Stone! But what price does she have to pay? And is there more to it than what the Orin is telling her? Moreover...Does Bubbles even know what she's dealing with?
1. Default Chapter

What happened?I don't understand...........why...?  
You said we'd never be apart,and that we'd always be there for one another.So why...?Why...?  
  
...why do you foresake me..?  
The professor says its all a part of teen life.That its a natural thing.But..is it natural..to loose the best friends you've ever had? To loose them by strangers that haven't even been around them for half their life?  
  
How.....how could they forget?The memories..The happiness..the sadness...How could they forget about us..?Each other?  
  
I'm walking home from school.Thankfully,today's a Friday..I guess the only thing I need to be thankful for is that there's no more annoying school tommorow or the day after.Lately,everything's been a blur in school.All I want to do is get out.Nothing else.Just like I want to do with my life.Get out.  
Through the beginning of our highschool year,we were together,always there for one another like best friends are.  
Just as always..me,Buttercup and Blossom...my two sisters.  
But then everything changed.Blossom goes out with this guy named Thomas,and Buttercup hangs out with these friends and most of them wear gothic clothes.  
Whenever I try doing something with them,they simply pry me off,always "busy" with something.I just can't help but to think to myself,  
'This can't be Buttercup and Blossom.What happened to the Blossom who'd help me with my homework,or baking cookies or brownies with me?What happened to the Buttercup,who'd spar and play sports with me?'  
  
I feel hot tears forming in my eyes.Monsters and criminals rarely ever came to Townsville anymore,because of the constant crimefighting we did as children.This place became known as   
"No man's land" for criminals.And the criminals who do come to this town are easily taken down by the police force.  
But..As much as I've hated fighting those monsters,and kicking the daylights out of robbers...I wish it all came back.I wish they all came back to rob the cities like they used to.I wish it could be like old times....The old times I never fully appreciated until now.  
  
I've grown a lot.The I still wear ponytails,but I wear two ponytails in the back of my hair instead of the sides.I've grown taller,and the professor says I've grown even more beautiful than ever.But I don't think I'm beautiful.Maybe baby cute,but never beautiful.At least not compared to Blossom and Buttercup.Blossom's long aburn hair falls all the way down to her knees, and lovely rare pink eyes.Every feature on her is perfect.Smart,witty,beautiful...model material indeed.  
Buttercup looks like an asian masterpeice.With porclain skin and black hair that reaches her shoulders.Her emerald eyes have a radiant sparkle with them,and her eyes are slanted,unlike mine and Blossom's.  
..And me.Bubbles.The cutsie little freshman kid.The girl with a perky smile on her face,but unknown to them,simply uses it like a mask to hide her pain.  
  
I've been walking for nearly ten minutes.I just don't have the spirit to fly right now.I finally reach my house.Finally....  
I knock on the door,and the professor opens it for me after yelling "just a minute!"  
When he opened the door for me,I tried to manage a smile.but I guess I couldn't hide it from him very well."Uhh..Gracias?" I said.  
"Bubbles,"the prfessor sighed."Your beginning to worry me."  
  
"w-why?" I ask very uneasily.  
  
"You don't seem yourself lately.You seem more depressed nowadays.."  
  
"Honestly,it's nothing professor!" I lie.  
  
He frowns."Now don't you go 'its nothing professoring' me,young lady."  
  
Realizing how hopeless it would be to try to pretend,I decided I'd quit with the 'completely oblivious' look.My face sunk,my arms hung.My eyes looking as though they were ready to cry,until the professor took me by the hand.  
  
He smiled at me."Come with me Bubbles,to the lab.There's something I need to show you."  
He's so comforting the professor.Professor Utonium is the creator of Me,Blossom and Buttercup.A fatherly figure to all of us.He's the only person around me that doesn't pry me away.........  
  
When we entered the Professor's lab,he told me to stay where I was,while he went to get what he was going to show me.So I simply stood there,tapping my feet,letting chapters of my life be untold in my head.Letting my memories consume me.  
~*flashback* ~  
"Everybody ready for school tommorow?"smiled blossom,putting the last of her books in her schoolbag." It was always like Blossom to be excited about school.  
  
"Yeah,whatever." muttered Buttercup.Buttercup never cared all too much about school.She found it nothing but boring.  
  
"Now Buttercup,"scolded Blossom,"You can't go playing hooky from classes like you did in Middle school.Five unexcused tardies or absences is and automatic LC,or loss of credit."  
  
Buttercup rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm excited about school tommorow!" I smiled hugging a manga comic I was reading."The only thing I'm worried about is homework..."  
  
"Don't worry Bubbles,"said Blossom,placing her hand gently on my shoulder."I'll help you with it!"  
  
"Really?!"I beamed.  
  
"Sure,"She answered."Besides,what are friends for....?"  
~End of Flashback ~  
"Bubbles.....Bubbles..."The Professor was shaking me,trying to snap me out of it.  
  
"Hmm..what?"  
  
"Bubbles,I want to give you something,I've had stored in this old lab for many years.."  
  
He handed me a stone.But...It didn't look ordinary.It had a metalic,shiny luster to it,and it was a dark blue.In the center of it was a hexicle carved in gold.Its certainly catching my interest,but then again,I've always been easily pleased.  
  
"What is this thing,professor?"  
  
"Its a wishing stone."He said simply with a smile on his face.  
"It's been passed down to my family from many generations.I've chosen to pass this family relic to you.It's always given me good luck when I rub on it."he laughed."I've never actually wished on it,though.But,it is said that when one wishes upon it from the bottom of their heart,the wish will come true."  
  
Hmmm.....  
  
"Can I take it to my room?"I ask.  
  
"Well of course!"he beamed."It's yours now,after all."  
  
"So I take the shiny blue rock into my room.Our room.I stare at it,and a moment later I realize my vision is blurred,waters going down my eyes,and I'm hiccuping...I'm crying again!  
  
But I didn't care.I let myself wither away in my tears.I never had much strength to begin with.I was always a crybaby,even when I was little...  
  
I hugged the stone to my chest as I let it all out.  
  
"I wish...I wish I had a friend,one that won't foresake me,"I whisper."I wish I could save the world and let it be like old times...I wish things were back to normal..."  
I break out in uncontrolable sobs.I can't stop crying.I hold the stone to my chest and lay in a resting position still,crying and crying...until I cry myself to sleep.  
While Bubbles sleeps however,the gold engraved hexicle begins to turn red.... 


	2. A father's perception

Okay everyone I'm back after some writers block! go me! I thought that I should elaborate a bit on the stone so it wouldn't look so much like a plot device. and now without further ado...On to the ficcy!  
  
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Disclaimer:I don't own anything in this fic. Powerpuff Girls belong to Cartoon Network.  
  
Professor Utonium stayed in his lab. He could hear Bubbles' sobs all the way from his workplace. He sighed.  
  
All he ever wanted to do was make that girl..his 'daughter' happy. He knew her sisters were neglecting her, and that was eating her up inside. The professor already tried making it perfectly clear to Bubbles that this was all a part of life. That Blossom and Buttercup were growing up, and seeing the world in a new way than they used to as children.  
  
But that didn't make Bubbles feel any better, and he didn't really think it would. But at least he wouldn't feel bad about not trying at all.  
  
All the girls had grown so much since their fighting days in Townsville came a close. They basically had a normal life now, save their superpowers.  
  
Each of them were happy teenagers...  
  
...Each of them except Bubbles.  
  
Based on Bubbles' childish, niave outlook of life as a child, he thought she'd probably have been affected the most when she saw the world for what it really was. That people weren't always nice, that people weren't always frowning or sad due to some crime in Townsville....That the world wasn't made of cute pink bunnies and tabby cats....That the world wasn't a rainbow...  
  
...That the world isn't as pure and honest as she thought it would be...That the world could be a cruel place... Even for a PowerPuff Girl.   
  
He just didn't think reality would hit her this hard.  
  
The blue stone was found in Egypt by one of his distant grandfathers in the late 1800's.The stone was called the 'Orion' stone, after archyologists were able to encrypt the exremlly small symbols. Scientist say that judging by the symbols it came from Rome. The professor came to the conclusion that this stone came in Egypt at around the time when Ceazar had married to Cleopatra III, since it was the only real encounter Rome had with Egypt. It was a family tradition to give the stone to the eldest child of their family. Utonium was an only child. His father gave it to him when he was fourteen years old. When the parents are sure the child is mature enough to own it they'd usually hand it over.   
  
Originally he planned on giving the 'Orin' to Blossom. He had always envisioned her as the oldest and most mature of the girls. But lately that opinion was beginning to change. She was still the intelligent girl the professor had known her as....But she had become more...shallow as of late. Buttercup was just too rough. He didn't think she'd ever take any of this importance seriously.  
  
Bubbles was fairly mature now. Occassionally she could revert to her childish self, but it was clear she had SOME mature outlook on life and some sense.  
  
But this 'mature' outlook was beginning to depress her. The professor wanted Bubbles to KNOW she was special, so he gave her the stone for that reason also. He was thinking of taking Bubbles to a psychiatrist, so that she could hopefully recover before she wallowed too low in her depression....But it wasn't her fault... He didn't understand how Blossom and Buttercup could do this to one another...or Bubbles. He knew that it was natural to have some friends...But to neglect the other sister at that expense or for whatever?  
  
He shook his head. There was nothing he could do about that. He couldn't just force them to be what they used to be....  
  
'I hope little Bubbles will be alright...' the professor thought to himself.  
  
'I hope everything will be all right in the end...'  
  
And with a final sigh of slight frustration and anguish, the professor continued working with his chemicals.  
  
*************  
  
What'll happen now? What'll happen now that Bubbles has wished on the stone? What's the stone's full history? Find out next time! 


	3. Meeting of the Orin

Disclaimer: I don't own PPG or any of its characters. All I own is 'The Orin'. Before I begin this story, I'd like to point out a few things, firstly Orin's bold text doesn't mean he's shouting, its just booming in every direction of where Bubbles is. If he wants to yell, or say something a little louder, it'll be in bolder text okay?  
  
Note: To all my readers out there I heavily apologize. I haven't had time to do this chapter in a long time, and I've had writers block for lord knows how long. Though I'm hoping to write more frequently since I have a few ideas up my sleeve. and you'll probably be seeing the stories getting longer than just a few scenes. So enjoy the read!  
  
~*~  
  
........  
  
Nothingness... It was what she felt, it was where she was. As she opened her eyes, she found herself sourounded by a void of depressing darkness. What frightened her even more was that the darkness, from any standpoint seemed as though it stretched from every angle, and every direction like a neverending shroud.  
  
The only light in this loney place was herself. In fact, she seemed so bathed with light to the point where she resembled a translucent ghost save the fact she was still solid.  
  
'But where exactly am I?' Bubbles thought to herself. 'Last I checked I was still in my room.....'  
  
"What is this place? Where am I?!" She panicked.  
  
"..IN ME."  
  
She gasped, her head spinning to every direction to find the sound, but with no such luck. The voice seemed to be filtering every part of the area. Its voice was calm, and etheral. As though it had a wisdom over its years...and yet it seemed very cold.  
  
Gathering the courage, and resisting the temptations to cry, she proceeded to speak further to whomever was speaking with her.  
  
"...That still doesn't explain where I am?" Bubbles replied hesitantly. "Where am I?" she repeated.  
  
"YOU ARE IN ME. THE ONE YOU WISHED TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. THE ONE WHOM YOU SEEKED RIGHTOUSNESS AND SOLEMNITY TO. I AM THE ORIN, AND YOU STAND IN WHERE I HAVE STAYED FOR MILLENIUMS PAST.."  
  
"Well, that explains what you are and where I am, but why am I here?" Said Bubbles. She had let her gaurd down. Not like she had much of a choice. She was begining to feel at least just a little more comfortable with whomever she was speaking to her.  
  
"I AM HERE TO HELP YOU."  
  
"That's crazy! Why me? So many people before you have asked for your help! But why are you seeking me instead?"  
  
"BECAUSE, MY CHILD," The voice purred throughout the atomosphere of the darkness. "YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE OF WHICH TO HAVE WISHED FOR SOMETHING OF RELATIVE IMPORTANCE. YOUR SPIRIT FELT SO STRONGLY OF THAT WISH, THAT IT CREATED A BOND WITH ME, SO THAT I MAY SPEAK WITH YOU." The Orin answered.  
  
"MANY SOULS HAVE WISHED ON ME BEFORE. UNLIKE TODAY AND BACK IN MY TIME, I WAS THE GREAT ORIN, GOD OF WISHES AND GOOD LUCK. HOWEVER, I MADE SO MANY WISHES FOR PEOPLE GOOD AND EVIL, THAT EVENTUALLY THE LAND OF ROME FELL INTO TOURMOUIL DUE TO THE CORRUPTION. THE GODS BECAME UPSET WITH ME, AND MY INTERFERENCE WITH THE MORTALS. THEY SEALED ME INSIDE OF THIS STONE AND MADE IT SO THAT ONLY QUEEN CLEOPATRA III AND HER HUSBAND, KING CEAZAR KNEW ANYTHING OF MY EXISTANCE. THE GODS MADE IT SO EVERYONE WAS MADE TO FORGET ABOUT ME, AND MY EXISTANCE. NO BOOK EVER WRITTEN COULD EVER WRITE ME FOR WHO I WAS...I WAS WRITTEN TO BE A HUNTER OR WHATNOT FOR THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE HAD BEEN ALTERED. ONCE RECEIVED, QUEEN CLEOPATRA HAD MADE A PERSONAL MISSION ON HER OWN BEHALF TO BURRY ME SOMEWHERE NEAR THE EGYPT'S PALACE."  
  
"It must have been really lonely being stuck in here." She replied. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the former god. Being betrayed by your very own, just because you tried to help, and make people happy. What was so wrong with that? If anything, she felt that the Orin, or whatever this thing was, needed a wish of its own so that it could be free. It was certainly worth more than her wish.   
  
"..Is there any way you could get out?"  
  
The voice paused. Obviously thinking about Bubbles' question.  
  
"THE ONLY WAY MY IMMORTAL SOUL SHALL BE FREED IS THAT IF I AM ABLE TO FULFILL YOUR WISH."  
  
"Then I'll just wish for you to be free."  
  
"IT ISN'T THAT SIMPLE."   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"BECAUSE, IN ORDER TO FULFILL YOUR WISH, AND FREE MYSELF IS...."  
  
"Is what?" Asked Bubbles  
  
"IS THAT YOU ACQUIRE SOULS."   
  
"Souls? So your saying I have to capture souls?!"  
  
"YES. THAT IS CORRECT." He replied. "A GOD IS MADE OF POWERS OF THE SPIRIT. MY SPIRITUAL POWERS HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY, BUT NOT HAS MY SPECIAL ABILITIES. IN ORDER TO FREE MYSELF AND GRANT YOUR WISH YOU MUST BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE THE LIVES OF OTHERS, AND ACQUIRE THEIR SOULS...."  
  
Bubbles was dumbstruck. she'd have to kill innocent lives in order to create a selfish wish? She couldn't do it. She just couldn't allow herself to put other peoples' lives on the line for herself.  
  
"I don't know if I could find it in my heart to do this..." Bubbles said finally. "Its only MY wish, and nobody on this Earth asked or deserves to die because of it."  
  
"OH IS IT?" The Orin replied calmly. "MY DEAR BUBBLES... I KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO FEEL THE PAIN OF NEGLECT, AND LONELINESS......EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T DESERVE TO DIE, DO YOU HONESTLY FEEL THAT YOU ARE ANY INFERIOR? THAT YOU NEED TO DIE WITHIN YOURSELF? MY DEAR, YOU WILL FIND PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WHO ARE NOT AS INNOCENT AS THEY APPEAR TO BE. IT WOULD BE A MIRACLE TO THIS WORLD IF THEY DIED ANYWAY.... WHO SAID YOU HAD TO KILL 'INNOCENT LIVES'?   
  
She gasped. He was right. There were bad people in this world..some who had caused pain to the world and had hurt the happiness of the people. They deserved to die, right? Couldn't she just take their souls and feed it to Orin? Besides, it was for a good cause for her and Orin both... well, it was a better cause than they were contributing anyway.  
  
"Okay." Bubbles replied. "I'll do it."  
  
"GOOD.....AN EXCELLENT CHOICE. BUT I'LL HAVE YOU REMEMBER, THAT ONCE YOU GO ONTO THIS DEAL, THERE IS NO TURNING BACK.....ARE YOU SURE?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"ALRIGHT THEN, BUBBLES...I, THE ORIN DUB YOU...THE OFFICIAL..."  
  
"SOUL HUNTER…"  
  
~*~  
  
Uh oh. What in the world has Bubbles gotten herself into? Does she REALLY know what she's dealing with? What's up with Blossom and Buttercup, and what's with the aloof new guy that Blossom's been going ga-ga over? Who is he? And most of all...Bubbles' first assignment! Check it all out next chapter!  
  
Ja ne! 


End file.
